


Reunion

by OceanTiger23



Series: Iowa Loam [2]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-17
Updated: 2017-06-17
Packaged: 2018-11-15 04:44:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11223591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OceanTiger23/pseuds/OceanTiger23
Summary: After seven years, Spock returns to Riverside on a hot summer day, in search of something missing. An epilogue of sorts to "Iowa Loam," set in that universe.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't make money off spying on these weirdos and reporting on their weirdness.
> 
> Repost from FF.net, 7/22/2012.

June 10th, 2117, Riverside High School.

Nyota Uhura pushed a lock of her dark hair behind her ear and lay back on the grass of the football field, shutting her eyes and feeling the hot sun beat down on her face.

Beside her, she heard Christine's anxious voice: "Ny, what time is it? Is she late?"

Nyota opened her eyes, cupping her hand over her forehead, and looked up at Christine Chapel, as petite and white-blonde as ever in her sixteen years of age, looking out across the Riverside High School football field.

Nyota dug her cell phone out of her shorts and checked the time, squinting in the sunlight. "Not yet," she said, "Don't worry about it, Chris, Janice will be here. You know how she hates being late. Just sit back and enjoy the sun."

"Maybe she came early and we missed her," Christine bit her lip, twirling a strand of her hair between her fingers.

"I doubt it—someone wearing a bright red Starfleet uniform would stand out. We would've seen her," Nyota answered, "C'mon, Chris, just _relax."_ She tugged on the back of Christine's shirt. "This might be the last time we get to do this."

"Huh. Easy for _you_ to say," Christine told Nyota, looking back and rolling her eyes. "I still have a year left in this boring place. _And_ I have to suffer through it alone."

Nyota didn't respond, but merely laid back down on the grass, thinking.

She felt a little bad for Christine. All of Christine's friends were either out of school or, like Nyota, graduating today.

But still.

There was a part of Nyota that felt like she was missing something—like if she left Riverside too soon, she'd lose something forever. She almost wished she could take Christine's place.

At that moment, Nyota was snapped out of her thoughts by Christine:

"Wait, is that—I think it is! It _is!_ Janice! JAAAANIIIIICE! OVER HERE!"

Nyota opened her eyes to see Christine waving wildly to a tall, young woman standing across the field with long, dark blonde hair, wearing a red Starfleet cadet uniform.

The dark blonde woman waved back and started over to them from across the parking lot, and Christine jumped up and started running over, her flip-flops slapping against the soles of her feet.

Nyota smiled and stood as well, ambling over as Christine tackled Janice in a hug.

"You got taller!" Christine was pouting as she let go of Janice and stepped back to examine her taller friend.

Janice smiled, shaking her head. "Nah, s'the boots," she said, gesturing to her feet, tucked into a pair of shiny, black, knee-length boots. "Women's standard issue have two-inch heels."

Nyota walked over, smiling and spreading her arms, hugging Janice tight, noting that her friend felt somehow harder than before. Leaner.

"It's great to see you," she said. She let go of Janice, stepping back to get a good look at her, a thoughtful look on her face. "Jan, have you been working out?"

Janice nodded. "Yeah," she answered, "All incoming cadets were required to take some form of physical training or another. I joined the drill team." She drew the back of her hand across her forehead and unzipped her jacket to reveal a white undershirt, and shrugged the jacket off. "God, it's hot. I'd forgotten how hot it gets here; San Francisco's always covered in fog—"

"Ooh! Flex for us, Jan!" Christine interrupted, giggling madly and wrapping her small hands around one of Janice's lean arms. "C'mon, c'mon, do it! Flex for us!"

"Aww, no, Christine, I—" Janice protested modestly.

"Pleeeeease?" Christine made a puppy face, sticking out her lower lip, widening her already-huge blue eyes.

Janice exchanged a look with Nyota, who shrugged, giving Janice a wry smile.

Janice caved. "Weeeeeell…okay," she said, and flexed her biceps.

"Wow," Christine marveled. She looked up at Janice. "That's better than most of the guys I know."

At this, all three of the girls burst out laughing.

They walked out to the middle of the field again and sat down, basking in the sun, chatting, and listening as Janice told stories of her experiences at Starfleet.

"So then," Janice said, recounting a nasty bit of drama she'd witnessed in the dorms, "the door slides open and this guy stumbles out, dressed in nothing but his boxers, and somebody from inside tosses his uniform at his head, and the door slides shut. Just like that."

"Wow," said Christine, wide-eyed, lying on her stomach, propped up on her elbows, her chin in her hands, "After all that yelling and whatnot?"

Janice nodded sagely. "Yep."

"That's crazy."

"So what's been going on around here?" Janice asked, turning to Nyota, "I haven't talked to you guys since the advanced placement exams."

Nyota shrugged. "Ah, y'know, the same-old same-old. It's hot, we had to suffer through finals—"

"Hey, I'm _still_ suffering through finals!" interjected Christine, mock-indignantly.

"—graduation stuff's been going on…I dunno. Although they postponed the graduation dance—it's this Saturday," Nyota added. "And we can bring guests."

"Lucky," Janice grinned.

Silence fell for a moment, then Nyota spoke up. "So, have you heard anything from Gaila?"

Janice's grin faded slightly. "No," she said, shaking her head, "Not since she left last August. You guys remember. She said she'd gotten some kind of off-planet job. I guess she must be really busy."

"But you'd think she'd _call_ or something, at least!" Christine spoke up, frowning.

"Well, yes, Nyota began, diplomatically, "but Gaila could be anywhere."

"Yeah, Chris, I mean, who knows what kind of contact she'd be able to make in deep space," Janice shrugged, "She might be exploring another galaxy for all we know, or…or…" Janice trailed off, a grin spreading across her face.

"What?" Nyota asked, frowning, "Jan, _what?_ "

Suddenly, a pair of hands clapped over Nyota's eyes and an excited female voice sounded from behind: "SURPRISE!"

In darkness, Nyota heard Christine gasp beside her, and someone lunge to the side, half-hissing, half-laughing, "SHHH!"

"Gueeeeess who!" said the voice in Nyota's ear, accompanied by the familiar scent of classic, pink bubble gum…

Nyota's stomach turned over and her heart started to race. _Is it... Oh, God, it is!_

She took a breath, composing herself and putting on a wry smile. "I don't know," she said, coyly, "…who is it?"

The hands lifted from Nyota's eyes and Nyota turned to see the familiar, green-skinned, red-haired figure of Gaila standing there, her hands on her hips, a grin on her face.

Janice, who had had her hand clamped over Christine's mouth, let Christine go, standing.

"GAILA!" shrieked Christine, jumping to her feet and throwing her arms around the newcomer.

Nyota stood, her mouth gaping open in a smile.

"Oh my God, what have you been doing for the past year?" demanded Christine, jumping up and down on the grass.

"Well, I'll _tell_ ya, Chris, as long as I can get a hug from everybody else first!" Gaila grinned, ruffling Christine's short hair and looking at Nyota. She spread her arms. "Ny, c'mon, you know you want some!"

Nyota laughed and stepped forward as Gaila embraced her in a rib-cracking hug.

"Gaila, it's been too long," Nyota said, her eyes starting to fill as she hugged Gaila back.

They broke apart, Nyota's smile quivering.

"Aww, Ny, c'mon, don't—you're making me feel guilty," Gaila protested, "C'mon, unless you want a kiss too."

Despite herself, Nyota snorted.

"Well, you were out of contact for almost a year," Janice interrupted dryly, stepping forward and hugging Gaila.

"Yes, but you had no trouble finding me a week ago to tell me to get my ass back here for Ny's graduation," Gaila laughed.

"Wait—what?" asked Nyota.

"You two set this up?" demanded Christine, looking between Janice and Gaila, wide-eyed.

"Of course we did," Gaila told Christine, "How else would I know where to sneak up on you?"

Nyota gave an incredulous laugh.

"Did you get taller, Jan?" Gaila asked, looking up at Janice.

"No, it's the boots," Janice replied, gesturing to her feet.

"I _thought_ so," Gaila laughed.

"But she got muscles!" Christine interjected.

"Is that so?" Gaila looked back at Janice, who shrugged and flexed. "Very nice."

Nyota smiled, feeling her tears recede. It was just like old times. "So what happened to you?" she asked Gaila, "For crying out loud, you look like a pirate!"

She gestured to Gaila's outfit, which consisted of a tan pair of ripped jeans, a white, sleeveless undershirt, and a tight, brown, leather lace-up vest, not to mention the myriad bracelets around her wrists, the silver hoops in her ears, and the heavy leather boots on her feet.

Gaila shrugged, looking over her choice of clothing. "Just an off-planet fad, I guess," she said, smiling.

"Well, tell us about your job!" Christine prompted, tugging on Gaila's arm and taking a seat on the grass.

Nyota, Janice and Gaila all sat down in a circle, and Gaila began to describe what she'd been doing for the last eleven months.

"Well," she began, "I've been off-planet, first of all, and I haven't really had the opportunity to contact anyone. I got a job for Galactic Outdoor Adventures, as a guide, and a pilot."

"Galactic Outdoor Adventures?" asked Janice, raising her eyebrows, "Sounds a bit cheesy."

"Well, it is a tourist service," Gaila shrugged. "Basically what I do is I pilot a small ship carrying a group of usually six to eight passengers to different locations throughout the galaxy, and then I serve as their guide, depending on what we're doing at the location—white-water rafting, rappelling, solar-surfing—"

"Solar-surfing?" Nyota interrupted.

"Like hoverboarding, only better," Gaila said dreamily, "You guys have not lived until you've surfed at the solar cliffs on D'zaren Four."

"So…are you a guide for everything you do?" asked Janice, "I mean, you'd have to be an expert in every outdoor sport your tour's doing…"

"I'm not," Gaila said, "There are other guides at the locations who know what they're doing—usually I'm just along for the ride, although I've picked up a few skills."

"What happened to your arm?" asked Nyota, noticing a long, thin, pale-green scar stretching across Gaila's left shoulder.

Gaila glanced down at the scar and ran a finger over it thoughtfully. "That?" she asked, "Oh, just a scratch."

"Looks like a little more than a scratch," Janice said, raising her eyebrows, unconvinced.

"Well," Gaila began, "it happened while I was with a group."

"What happened?" Nyota asked.

"I slipped and sliced my arm open on a rock," Gaila told them, "I actually got really lucky—there was a guy on the tour who specialized in Terran medical history, and he sewed it up for me."

"'Sewed it up'?" asked Nyota, frowning, "Like, with a needle and thread?"

Gaila nodded. "He was really good at it, too. Like he'd done it before."

Christine's eyes went wide. "You mean he did it the _old-fashioned_ way?" she gasped, "Oh my God, Gaila, that's really dangerous! I mean, people were doing that way back in the twentieth century, for crying out loud! You could've gotten an infection from that!"

"Well, Chris, it was either that or bleed out and die," Gaila told Christine, shrugging. "We had no access to a real hospital."

"Oh." Christine went faintly pink and closed her mouth.

"What I'd like to know is what kind of person specializes in Terran medical history?" asked Janice.

"Rich wackos," Gaila declared, laying back on the grass.

When her friends sent her questioning looks, she returned a knowing smile.

"What? It costs a lot of money to go gallivanting billions of miles across the galaxy for a vacation."

"Touché," Janice said.

"So what have you been doing at Starfleet?" asked Gaila of her, rolling onto her side and looking up at Janice questioningly.

"Majoring in logistics," Janice answered, "Not to mention looking after Pavel."

"Oh yeah, he's there too!" Christine realized.

"Chris, he practically got recruited out of his sophomore year," said Gaila. She grinned at Janice. "Didn't know _you_ were a cougar."

"Well, it's not like I'm dating the kid!" Janice laughed back. "I felt kind of bad for him—he's the youngest person in Starfleet, by far."

"What's he doing for the break?" asked Nyota.

Janice looked up suddenly. "I didn't tell you?" she asked.

The others shook their heads.

"Oh. Well, he's here," Janice said, "He came back with me on the shuttle from San Francisco. He's coming for the graduation."

"I haven't talked to Pavel in ages," Nyota said, gazing up at the sky, "We oughta go say hi." She looked back at Janice. "Do you know where he is right now?"

Janice shrugged. "No," she answered, "he's probably off wandering the school, or else with his family. I couldn't say."

* * *

"Let me go! I'm warning you, let me go! I am not a student—you are going— _oww!_ You'll regret this! HEY!"

The boy stumbled, his foot catching on the floor as he was shoved into the small space before him.

"Enjoy your stay, kid!" snorted the dim-witted voice behind him, and, with a metal _clang_ , the boy was plunged into darkness.

"YOU WILL REGRET THIS!" the boy shouted as he heard his attackers walking away, laughing.

" _The janitor'll probably be back to let you out around midnight!"_ a voice called back at him, and the group of bullies broke into laughter again, fainter now.

Then all was quiet.

The boy huffed a sigh, resting his head against the locker door, the familiar feel of cold metal on his forehead.

_I can't believe it,_ he thought, _It's been a year, and I still fit in these damned things._

As usual, there was only one thing to do.

Muttering a Russian curse under his breath, he shifted to the side, remembering the familiar position, and started to bang on the locker door, shouting:

"Hello? Is anybody there? _Hello!_ "

* * *

"Pilot training, eh?" asked Montgomery Scott as he walked through the halls of Riverside High School, his hands in his pockets, a grin on his face.

"Yep," answered Hikaru Sulu, walking beside him. "S'gonna be the best thing that's ever happened to me."

"Well, I always figured ye for an adrenaline junkie," Scotty laughed, "I mean—junior year trip tae Disneyland—ye must have bloody dragged me onto the Screamer five times in a row!"

"Six," corrected Hikaru.

"Either way, I puked," Scotty told him matter-of-factly.

Hikaru snorted. "Well yeah, but it was no fault of mine. _You_ were the one who insisted on stopping for ice cream."

"Whatever. You're _still_ an adrenaline junkie."

They turned a corner into the quad, crossing the empty space and heading for the history wing.

"Yeah," Hikaru agreed, looking up at the sky, shrugging, "…I dunno. It's not just the adrenaline. I wanna _be_ in space."

Scotty looked at him. "Jes' tae be in space?" he asked.

"Just to be out there," Hikaru nodded. "Surrounded by the unknown. Somewhere where I can look out a window and see nothing but stars, stretching on forever. That's gonna be the coolest thing." His pace slowed and he stared up at the sky, just stared, and fell silent.

Scotty blinked at him. "Ah…ye still with me, Hikaru?"

Hikaru looked back at Scotty as if snapped out of a daze. "Yeah. Sorry. Just a little caught up."

Scotty grinned. "I think ye've got a little bit o' sailor blood in ye, lad, if ye know what I mean. Call o' the sea, an' all that?"

"So to speak," chuckled Hikaru.

"So how's your family taking it?" Scotty asked. "I mean, it's not as if it's gonna be all fun and games. It'll be dangerous."

"I know that," Hikaru said, "After years of my dad coming home with crazy stories about his missions? Do I ever." He shrugged. "They're used to it. My mom wants to move onto my dad's ship once Yumiko's out of the house."

"How's Yumiko takin' it?" asked Scotty.

Hikaru grinned. "She's insanely jealous. Keeps saying how lucky I am. But she's used to it too. We all are."

There was a short pause, and then Hikaru asked, "So what about you? What are you majoring in?"

"Engineering," Scotty answered.

"Might've known," Hikaru said. "How's your family taking it?"

Scotty shrugged. "They want me tae go," he said, "All of 'em. I mean, you know me dad… always talkin' 'bout university and getting' an education and whatnot, and me mum's right behind him, a'course…Me older brother and sister keep sayin' it's the greatest thing they've ever done." He shrugged again.

Hikaru looked at his friend, waiting. When Scotty said nothing, he asked, "So what about you?"

"Me?" asked Scotty, "Oh, I dunno…"

They turned the corner into the locker hallway.

"…I'm the first one in me family who's been tae Starfleet," he told Hikaru, "I'm kind of takin' everybody's word for it that it's gonna be fantastic. I jes' dunno what tae expect…" Scotty trailed off, hesitating, but then continued: "…but I guess I canna imagine meself anywhere else, can I?" he asked, smiling at Hikaru.

They stopped in the middle of the hall.

Hikaru put a hand on Scotty's shoulder, smiling back.

"Scotty," he said, "I know it's gonna be fun."

There was silence for a moment as they resumed walking, Hikaru removing his hand from Scotty's shoulder.

Then Scotty stopped again. "D'ye hear that?" he asked.

Hikaru stopped as well, listening. "Yeah," he said, "I do."

Coming from somewhere down the hall was a faint, metallic banging.

"What is…" Scotty trailed off, recognition dawning on his face, "…oh. _I_ know what that is. It's some kid what's got himself stuck in a locker." He put on a grimace. "Come on—he's probably missin' a final or somethin'."

Hikaru nodded and they started off in the direction of the banging. He smiled a little.

"What?" asked Scotty, noticing.

"Oh, I was just thinking," said Hikaru, "Remember how Pavel used to get stuffed into lockers? Back before he went to Starfleet?"

Scotty grinned, remembering. "Oh yeah," he said, "seemed like he'd be in there once a week, at least."

"And yet he _still_ managed to be the best in all of his classes…"

"And all that stuff he did with Tobias? Hacking into the system and putting a load of porn ontae the hologram in his locker? _Genius_ , that. Kid's got spirit."

"You're telling me. I had him tutoring me in differential equations."

At that moment, Hikaru and Scotty both trailed off, stopping in their tracks as they heard a familiar voice to accompany the metallic banging:

"Hello? For the _last time_ , I am _not_ a student! It is wery dark in here! _Hello?_ "

Scotty and Hikaru exchanged a glance.

"Ye don't think—" Scotty began.

"I think so," Hikaru finished.

Grins spread across their faces.

"Come on!" Hikaru said, and started running toward the source of the banging.

Scotty followed, and the two of them arrived at a locker at the end of the hall, once impeccably clean, now slightly dented and plastered with stickers.

"This used tae be Janice's locker!" Scotty said as he jogged up beside Hikaru. "Somebody sure screwed it up, didn't they? I'll call her, see if she ken remember th' combination. It's been a year, but she jes' might—"

"No need," Hikaru answered, punching in the code on the keypad, "I know it."

"How d'ye know it?" Scotty asked, curiously.

"Ah…well…" Hikaru grinned sheepishly, "Maybe some other time."

The light on the keypad shone green and the lock clicked, and Hikaru pulled open the locker.

His and Scotty's faces lit up, and they exclaimed in unison: "Pavel!"

Sure enough, his shirt rumpled, his hair askew, a thoroughly irritated expression on his young face, Pavel Chekov stepped out of the cramped space, huffing:

"You would not _believe_ what I have been through today!"


	2. Chapter 2

The day before: Starfleet Academy, London Campus, the dorms.

Standing in the small kitchenette in his tiny dorm room, perfectly groomed, dressed in a bathrobe and a pair of pajamas, Spock caught the hearty scent of fried egg and yawned, reaching over to turn off the electric water heater and pouring himself a cup of tea. He glanced back for his roommate, Arthur, wondering if he should offer him breakfast too, but Arthur had already left for his classes, and would presumably pick something up at a replicator.

Spock always cooked for himself—it was illogical to buy meals from a replicator when he could cook his own for less money—and a more healthful result.

He turned back to the frying pan before him and slid a spatula beneath the sizzling, over-easy egg, and depositing it onto a piece of toast on the small plate beside him on the counter.

He turned off the stove and took the frying pan off the burner to cool, picking up his plate and his tea, and heading over to his bed, setting his breakfast down on the windowsill, and starting up his datapad.

He glanced around the room, first to his side—impeccably clean and organized, as always, and then to his roommate's—less so, but tolerable.

Spock turned back to his computer and started up IIM, Interplanetary Instant Messenger, signing on and waiting for the robotic operator to speak:

" _Welcome to Interplanetary Instant Messenger! To whom may we connect you?_ "

"Computer, please resume video call from Wednesday, June third with Amanda Grayson," he said.

" _One moment please,"_ said the operator.

A beat passed, and then an image flashed up on the screen of a willowy, middle-aged woman with dark but graying hair, and laugh lines on her face.

"Good morning, Spock," she said, smiling.

"Good morning, Mother," Spock answered.

Over the past two years, Spock and his mother had met on Wednesday mornings for video calls over breakfast. It had become a ritual. They would eat their meal—tea and an egg on toast for Spock and oatmeal for his mother—and talk. It was the perfect arrangement, as Spock had no morning classes on Wednesdays—this week, no classes at all, as he was on leave—and his mother was usually free until lunchtime.

Spock took a sip of his tea. "I trust you are well?" he asked.

His mother smiled and nodded. "And yourself?" she asked.

"I am," Spock answered. "Though it is unusual to have no schoolwork."

"Well, that's what taking a break is all about," his mother told him, taking a bite of oatmeal.

"How is father?" Spock asked.

"Busy, as ever," she answered, "but well. Your roommate?"

Spock glanced back at the empty room. "I have seen little of him, though he seems fine as well."

"Still messy?"

"Less so than before."

"That's good."

There was a pause as both Spock and his mother took a bite of their breakfast, then his mother asked:

"Do you have any plans for your break?"

Spock paused. "No," he said, "I do not. But as I have been focusing on my classes, I have had little time to…" He trailed off, realizing he hadn't put any thought to the matter whatsoever.

On the other end, Amanda put down her spoon and looked her son in the eye. "Spock…" she began, her tone concerned, "…are you happy?"

Spock looked up, confusion written on his face. "I do not understand," he told her. "What do you mean?"

"Well…are you happy with…where you are? What you're doing? Where your life is going?"

Spock fell silent, his mother's questions echoing in his mind. Was he happy?

"Well…" he began, slowly, "London is a fascinating city, and I have had ample opportunity to learn about my human heritage here…I am, and have been, ranked at the top of my classes at Starfleet…" He trailed off.

"…But?" Amanda prompted.

Spock fell silent for a moment. But what about the warm, joyful feeling he got when he walked through a pile of leaves? What about all the times he had held up a glass of iced tea and imagined sugar swirling at the bottom? Why, whenever he yawned, did the word 'contagious' come to mind?

"But…I feel that…illogical as this may sound…something is…missing."

"Have you made friends in London?" his mother asked.

"Yes," Spock answered, "And I have, on occasion, gone on excursions with them, but...I still feel that I am missing something. As if I should be doing something else in my life, but do not know what I should be doing." He looked up at his mother. "I do not understand these feelings. They can be…distracting."

His mother regarded him with a small smile. "Spock," she began, "These feelings…they aren't all that uncommon. Many times when people feel this way, they are thinking of a place, or a person, they wish they could see again."

"You have felt this way?" Spock asked.

His mother nodded. "I have."

"Would you…help me to understand why I feel this way?" Spock asked, hesitantly, "Who…or where…I am missing?"

Amanda smiled. "Of course," she said. "Spock…can you remember a time in your life when you were perfectly content? When there was nowhere else in the world you wanted to be?"

Spock searched his thoughts.

A memory flitted across his mind like a moth: the brief sound of playful, boyish laughter, the feeling of his footsteps crunching through dry, autumn leaves.

Then another, the taste of something cold, something that was bitter and sweet, and _intelligent_ , all at the same time.

Words echoing in his head, sad ones, and a small hand held in the Vulcan salute: _"Live long and prosper, Spock."_

A last, cocky goodbye from someone: _"Spock. You'll be back."_ And his answer: " _…Yes. Yes, I will."_

Spock came back to reality, looking back up at his mother. He nodded.

"I can," he said. "It was when father was negotiating the Federation Alliance in Riverside Iowa…where we lived during…during…the Romulan incident."

Spock's mother nodded, and Spock continued.

"There were times, when we lived there, that I felt I wanted to remain in Riverside for the rest of my life," he said.

A small smile began to curve his mother's lips. "Well," she began, "Maybe you should start there."

* * *

Several hours later: Riverside, Iowa.

Spock looked out of the window of his shuttle as it landed in the docking area of the Riverside Shipyard, taking everything in.

Immediately after he and his mother had finished their breakfast and signed off IIM, he had opened _Google3T_ and looked up Riverside, Iowa. His mother had advised him to look at the schools in the area, to see if any of his friends were there—

" _Because on Vulcan, pre-university education moves faster than that on Earth."_

Following his mother's advice, he had clicked on the link to Riverside High School. Almost immediately a hologram popped up, displaying animated balloons and fireworks in red and gold, declaring: "Riverside High School Graduation Today!"

Curious, Spock had clicked on the list of graduating students, scanning it.

Two names stood out to him:

Nyota Uhura and James T. Kirk.

Staring at the screen, then and there, Spock had made his decision. He had jumped to his feet and immediately begun packing.

It took him a good hour and a half to find a Starfleet shuttle flight to Riverside. The earliest was leaving that night at 10:00 p.m. He took it.

Now the shuttle was landing.

A yawn pried open and escaped his lips— _Contagious,_ he thought—and he waited for the fasten-seat-belt light to turn off. Though it was only five o'clock in Iowa, it was one in the morning London time.

A tremor shot through the shuttle as it connected with the ground. The fasten-seat-belt light clicked off, and Spock stood, pulling his backpack from beneath his seat and shrugging it on, straightening the jacket of his cadet's uniform as he exited and stepped onto the dusty ground.

A wave of memories swept in and took over his mind.

He could see his friends as they wandered the rows of shuttles in the fading light, searching for anything out of the ordinary. Jim, walking with Len in the middle of the group, the latter of the two with dark, worried eyes, speaking in a hushed voice. Before them, Hikaru and Scotty, tickling, screeching, chasing. Behind them, Pavel, small but fierce, and on the lookout. Spock was at the back of the group, and beside him…

…Nyota.

Long, dark braided hair, smiling eyes. Shivering slightly in the chill of the October evening. He remembered giving her his jacket.

Spock came back to reality as the shuttle pilot walked past: "S'cuse me, mate."

Pulled out of his ocean of thought, Spock began to walk—not toward the main part of the shipyard, but in the opposite direction, toward a massive field of overgrown weeds, trees, and tall grass, beside which he knew there was a gate.

Sure enough, he turned right where the shuttles ended and saw the gate, beside a small booth with a Starfleet officer inside, reading something on a datapad.

The officer looked up as Spock drew near, nodding to him and hitting a button on his control panel that opened the gate.

He stepped up to the booth as the huge iron gate began to slide open.

"Excuse me," he began, "how—"

" _Pardon?"_ yelled the officer over the iron creak of the gate. " _M'a bit deaf! Speak up!"_

Spock, taken back, cleared his throat and repeated, loudly: " _How far is it to Riverside High School?"_

" _You goin' to the graduation?"_ asked the officer.

Spock nodded.

" _Better get goin' quick, then—starts in an hour! The high school's the miles from here, and there aren't any cabs to drive ya."_

Spock felt his heart sink.

In his haste to find a shuttle that would arrive in Riverside in time, he hadn't planned on how he would be getting to the school.

_A prime example of why planning things at the last minute is a bad idea,_ said a snide voice in his head.

But…

Memories of Jim and Nyota flashed through his mind again. Of their laughter. Their smiles.

He had come here for a reason.

He turned back to the officer. "How long will the ceremony be?"

The officer shrugged. "An hour, hour and a half at the most."

Spock nodded. "Thank you," he said.

"No problem," the officer replied, going back to his PADD.

Spock walked out beyond the gate to find himself standing on a dirt road that stretched to the horizon in both directions, along the rolling fields of corn.

He turned to the right, then the left, spotting an ancient, gnarled tree beside the outer stone wall of the shipyard, the end of a frayed length of rope hanging from one of its branches.

Another memory flitted across his mind—watching Jim disappear behind the wall like a rapeller, holding onto that rope. Smiling.

Though it was late in the day, Spock could feel the heat of the sun on his face.

He unzipped his jacket and started to walk.

* * *

Nyota's house, Nyota's room.

Nyota let her long hair fall around her shoulders in loose, dark curls—just recently done for the occasion.

She stepped away from the mirror, looking herself over.

She was wearing a black dress, fitted at the waist, that fell mid-thigh on her long legs, made of a soft, silky fabric that shimmered in the light. Sleeveless.

Behind her she heard a wolf-whistle, and turned to where Gaila was lounging on her bed, grinning.

"You look nice," she said, "Sucks that you're gonna be covered up by those nasty robes."

"What do you mean, nasty?" Nyota asked, laughing, "They're a symbol of accomplishment."

"Yeah, but you borrow them from the school. How many people do you think have worn those things before you?" Gaila asked, "And since they only get worn once a year, do you really think they wash 'em?" Gaila sent her a dark look. "Scary thoughts…" She grinned.

Nyota snorted, tossing a bottle of lotion at Gaila, who caught it.

"So, what are your plans for after high school?" she asked.

"Starfleet," Nyota answered. "Xenolinguistics."

"Figured," Gaila said, "You'll have to teach me how to say, 'I'm sexy and single' in Romulan or something."

"You planning on running into many Romulans on your intergalactic travels?" Nyota asked, raising an eyebrow as she applied a sheen of lip gloss.

Gaila didn't respond.

"Gaila?" Nyota turned to see her friend lying on her back, staring at the ceiling.

"Huh?" Gaila looked over at Nyota, blinking.

Nyota gave her a bemused smile. "Space lag?" she asked.

"Oh. No… Just thinking." Gaila shrugged.

Nyota turned back to the mirror and started putting on eyeliner, deciding not to press the matter. There was a short silence, and her thoughts wandered back to leaving Riverside. She felt a pang of sadness. _What am I leaving behind?_

She hesitated, then spoke. "Gaila…" she began, "…when you left last year, did you feel like…like if you went, you were gonna lose something? And you weren't going to get it back?"

Gaila looked up, frowning. "Where did that come from?" she asked.

"Seriously." Nyota turned to face her. "Did you?"

Gaila shrugged. "Well…I was worried I was going to lose touch with you, Jan and Chris," she said, "But…no, not really. I mean, I could always come back. The universe is a big place, but with a ship I could go anywhere. Well—" she paused. "—almost anywhere. So…no. I didn't. Why?"

Nyota took a deep breath. "I don't know…" she said, "I've just got this…weird feeling that once I leave Riverside something's going to be missing. Forever."

"What, like a person?" Gaila asked.

"Maybe."

Nyota put down her eyeliner and looked herself over. Gaila appeared behind her and put her arms around Nyota, smiling. "Well whatever it is, Ny, you look beautiful."

Nyota smiled at her childhood nickname. "Thanks," she answered.

* * *

The playground.

Jim Kirk leaned back on the red antique car, heavily rusted since he'd first come to the junkyard to play as a child, and grinned, looking up into the sky where the sun had begun to inch toward the horizon.

"That bad, huh Bones?" he asked, turning to face his friend, Leonard McCoy, who stood with his arms crossed, recounting an incident with a particularly irritating professor.

"You have no idea," Bones said in his familiar Southern drawl. "The old bastard looked about ready to throw me out of the lecture hall. Hell, it would've been worth it, too! He was completely wrong."

Jim grinned. "Ah, the joys of pre-med."

"Yeah, more like the misery." Bones rolled his eyes, but smiled. "You enjoy your last year of high school?"

"Like none other," Jim told him, putting his hands behind his head.

"Lucky you," Bones said, kicking at a splinter of wood. "Majoring in biology is all about work work work 'till you drop from exhaustion."

Jim shot him an amused sidelong glance. "What, they don't have girls at Emory?"

"Well, they sure do, but nobody has time to go out," Bones told him.

"Well, if you hate it so much, why did you even major in it?" Jim asked, half-laughing.

"I don't _hate_ it. All's I'm saying is there's a lot of work to be done."

Jim grinned. Since returning from university in Atlanta, Bones had managed to pick up even more of a Southern accent. He had also grown—filled out in the shoulders, and possibly gotten even taller.

Bones glanced back at Jim. "What?" he asked.

"Nothing," Jim said, innocently. "You're just…older, is all."

Bones snorted. "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"Neither. It's just a thing. Besides, once you've got your medical degree, I really get to call you 'Bones.'"

Bones rolled his eyes. "Oh _joy_."

Jim laughed, and Bones gave him a good-natured smile, which evaporated instantly as his phone began to buzz.

"Oh damn," he muttered, shooting Jim an apologetic look. "'Scuse me a minute." Grimacing, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and stepped away. "Hello?"

Curious, Jim watched as Bones spoke to the person on the other end, hearing the stress mount in Bones's voice.

"Listen, I'm kind of in the middle of something right now—well, I can't very well— _Jay_ , I'm with an old friend, could you please just let me—okay, okay fine. Yes, both our names—yes, that's _fine_ , Jay. No, I don't—oh, Jay, can we please not talk about this right now? Look, I gotta go. No, I don't wanna talk about it now. Well, you can wait 'till I get back, can't you? Okay, I'm sorry, that was rude…" Bones let out a long sigh, running a hand through his dark hair. "Yes, I'll call you later. Okay. Yeah."

Jim listened hard as Bones's voice dropped, and he could've sworn that he heard his friend say quietly, "Yeah, love you too," just before he hung up and, with a groan, stuffed his phone back into his pocket, leaning back against the antique car.

Jim stared at him. "What was _that_ all about?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

Bones stared up at the sky. "I do _not_ wanna talk about it," he muttered.

There was a short pause, and then Jim, grinning, slid over next to him. "Booooones…" he said in a mock-sincere singsong, "…you need to _talk_."

Bones shot him a glare, and a beat passed between them as Jim continued to smile.

Bones's resolve cracked. Sighing, he focused his glare at his feet. "Her name's Jocelyn," he said.

"I knew it!" Jim cried, punching the air, "I _knew_ it was a girl!"

"Yeah, yeah, it's a girl, now do ya want me to talk or not?" Bones snapped.

Jim piped down, but kept grinning. "So? How long?" he asked.

"Ten months," Bones said. "Beginning of first semester."

"And? What's she like?" Jim waited as Bones sighed and looked up at the sky.

"She's…amazing," Bones told him. "She's intelligent, and beautiful, and witty…"

"Is it serious?" Jim interrupted.

Bones shot him a look. "She makes me laugh, Jim."

Jim's eyes went wide. "It _is_ serious. So what's the problem?"

Bones looked back to the sky. "She can be a bit of a control freak sometimes," he said. "She…we're trying to get an apartment this summer. So we don't have to live in the dorms. And with Jocelyn, there's just…there's not a lot of room for compromise. We've been arguing lately."

Jim nodded, but didn't speak.

When he didn't get a response, Bones looked back at Jim. "Well?" he asked.

"What?" Jim asked.

Bones frowned. "You're acting like a shrink."

A grin spread across Jim's face. "I just can't believe you're moving in with a girl!" he laughed.

Bones snorted and slugged Jim in the shoulder. "Shaddup," he said, smiling. He checked his watch. "Jim, we'd better get going."

"Relax. It takes forever to sign in and get the robes anyways," Jim told him, leaning lazily back against the antique car, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"Not gonna work this time, _Jimmy_ ," Bones told him, grabbing Jim by the arm and starting to drag him away from the antique car.

"Aww, c'mon, Bones! Five more minutes?" Jim gave Bones a puppy face, pulling out of his friend's grip. "Pleeeeeease? Leeeeonard?"

Bones crossed his arms, glaring. "Do ya honestly want to be late to your own party?"

Jim grinned. "I guess not."


	3. Chapter 3

Spock checked his watch as he walked along the left side of the road, taking advantage of the shadow of the corn. He had been walking for fifty-five minutes, and had long since shed his jacket in the heat. If he estimated correctly, he had gone about three and a half miles.

_At this rate, I will not reach the ceremony in time,_ he thought, and quickened his pace, pulling a bottle of water from one of the side pouches in his backpack and taking a long drink.

At that moment, his keen ears picked up the sound of a car approaching from behind, and he turned around.

Sure enough, a rusting, old-fashioned, light blue pickup truck was approaching from the direction of the shipyard, leaving a cloud of dust in its wake. Spock could hear rock n' roll playing.

A thought occurred to him: he could ask for a ride into town. Spock was on the verge of sticking his thumb out to signal the driver, but a distant memory came to him, of hitchhiking from his house to the old junkyard to meet his friends.

Laughter. Glitter. Lots of it.

Spock blinked, and lowered his arm.

He turned back to the road, staring ahead.

At the sound of tires coming to a halt against the dirt, Spock stopped and turned to see that the truck had slowed beside him, and the driver was leaning out the window to talk to him.

The driver was a woman who looked to be in her late forties, with short, blonde hair that hung to her ears in tangled curls, and laugh lines on her face. She wore a slight frown, staring at Spock with ice blue eyes.

Spock was opening his mouth to turn down the ride she was going to offer him, when she spoke: "Spock?"

Spock stopped in his tracks. He stared at the woman.

"I…do not believe we are acquainted," he said, hesitantly.

"We aren't," she said, "I know your mother."

At this, Spock tilted his head to one side, but said nothing.

"Amanda Grayson," the woman continued, "We were friends in high school, in New York."

Spock blinked in surprise, mind racing. He had never seen the woman in his life, and yet she knew both his and his mother's names, and had recognized him on sight.

And for some reason, she looked extremely familiar.

"What is your name?" Spock asked her.

"Oh!" the woman laughed. "I'm sorry. I'm Winona Kirk. Jim Kirk's mother."

Spock's train of thought hit this penny of information and was sent flying off the tracks. The coincidence was monumental. That his mother and Winona Kirk had been friends in high school, that Spock had lived in the same town, that Spock had lived in the same town as Winona's son, not to mention _befriended him_ , that Winona was here, now.

_Why did you not mention this before, mother?_

"Are you going to the graduation?" Winona asked.

_Or perhaps the coincidence was not as monumental as I thought._

"I am," Spock told her.

"Do you want a ride?" she asked, glancing down the long, dusty road. "At this rate, you're going to get there when it's over."

Spock hesitated, echoes of warnings about strangers darting through his mind. A line of sweat trickled down the back of his neck.

Winona smiled. "I've got air conditioning," she said.

Spock nodded and got into the truck.

* * *

Nyota and Gaila pulled up in the student parking lot at Riverside High School and parked Nyota's car, getting out and starting for the football field, where the graduation ceremony was being held.

Nyota walked in her black dress and flats, Gaila in the same pirate-clothes she'd been wearing earlier, though she had shed her leather vest in the heat.

It took them a few minutes to find Janice and Christine in the sea of red graduation robes, but find them they did, standing by the bleachers and talking with Hikaru, Scotty, and a tired but smiling—

"Pavel!" Nyota called as she saw the boy's familiar, thin, curly-haired figure.

Pavel turned, saw her and waved, and she walked over to give him a hug, which he awkwardly returned.

"How are you?" she asked.

"Good," he answered, "Glad to be back."

"Your accent hasn't changed a bit!" Gaila cried, smiling widely and pulling Pavel into a bone-crushing hug.

"Can't…breathe…" Pavel choked.

Gaila let him go, and Pavel stumbled to the side, disgruntled.

"I dinnae know you were back," Scotty said, and received a rib-cracking hug of his own.

"Yep," Gaila said, grinning. She turned to Hikaru, who hastily put up his hands in defense.

"I want to keep my bones intact," he said.

Janice snorted, and everyone else laughed.

"I'd better go get my robes," Nyota said, "Pavel, when I get back I want to hear all about Starfleet, okay?"

"I think it'd be more interesting to hear about how he got stuffed into a locker on his first day back from San Francisco," Hikaru grinned.

Nyota turned to Pavel, eyes wide.

"By who?" Gaila demanded, incredulously. "You still fit in those things?"

Pavel scowled. "Da, I do," he grumbled. "Even after I graduate. Ees not fair."

"Don't worry, Pav, so do I," Christine piped up, patting Pavel on the shoulder.

"Yeah, but you've never been stuffed into one," Janice laughed.

Nyota smiled and started toward the registration table to sign in and get her robes.

* * *

Jim walked toward the registration table, grinning, waving to anyone who so much as looked his way.

Bones followed, rolling his eyes.

"If this is you on graduation day, I'm _not_ coming to the ceremony when you get your first command," he said dryly as Jim got into line at the registration table.

"What are you talkin' about?" Jim asked, turning around, still grinning.

Bones gave him a look. "You look like one of those anti-drug motivational holograms: 'This is Your Ego on Crack.'"

Jim snorted. "You're just in a bad mood 'cause of your _girlfriend_."

"When did you de-age to ten years old?" Bones asked, raising an eyebrow.

Jim laughed and turned back to the table to sign in.

The moment he had his robes in his hand, Jim turned back to Bones, saying, "By the way, there's this reception-thing after the graduation for Starfleet people, including incoming cadets. We can bring guests—you wanna come?"

Bones shrugged, watching as Jim put on his robes and mortarboard. "Got nothing else to do," he said with a shrug. "Where is it?"

"The Russian Embassy," Jim answered.

Bones snorted. "That brings back memories," he said, "I can't believe it's still the only place in this tiny town that's fancy enough for something like that."

"Believe it," Jim replied, clapping Bones on the shoulder, "That's why I can't wait to get the heck out of here."

Bones gave him a bemused look. "What, in seventeen years the charms of Riverside haven't gotten to you yet?"

Jim looked seriously at his friend. "Bones, it's the middle of _nowhere_ ," he said. "Not to mention that half the town wants me to fall off the face of the Earth…no, there's nothing left for me here."

There was a short silence, and then Jim smiled slightly. "Well," he said, "Not quite nothing, I guess."

Bones didn't need to ask. "She's gonna be here, right?"

"Yeah," Jim said, smiling slightly, "I'm not worried about it. She'll be here."

Bones opened his mouth to speak, but didn't get the chance, as an announcement sounded on the loudspeakers:

"All graduates please make your way to the south end of the field. Guests, please take your seats."

A grin spread across Jim's face. He looked up at Bones. "See you afterwards," he said.

Bones smiled back. "Go get 'em, Jim."

Jim gave Bones a lazy salute and started off across the field.

* * *

Spock, sitting in the passenger's seat of Winona's light blue pickup, waited patiently as Winona parked the car, listening as the faint notes of "Pomp and Circumstance" reached his ears from behind the bleachers.

"Ooh, good," Winona said, relief spreading across her face as she took the keys out of the ignition. "It's just starting. C'mon."

She got out of the car and Spock followed.

As they approached the back fence of the school, Spock could see a long line of red-robed students walking toward the bleachers through a path dividing a sea of white plastic chairs, occupied by smiling parents and friends.

On the way to the ceremony, Winona had explained to Spock about her friendship with his mother. They had been friends in high school until sophomore year ("About two years younger than you," Winona had said), when Winona moved to Riverside. From there, they had dropped out of contact and lost touch until they were reunited during "The Romulan Incident," as the media dubbed it.

Since then they had kept in contact, if only for just the occasional chat—"Which is probably why she never mentioned me," Winona had said, "We know where to find one another, but it's not often that we find the time to sit down and really catch up."

Spock mused on this as he followed Winona to a pair of white chairs and sat, watching the red-robed graduates file into rows on the heavily cleaned and decorated bleachers.

It still made little sense to him, why his mother had never told him about Winona and Jim—he had been friends with Jim during one of the most eventful times of his life—surely she would have thought to…

…Spock's stomach clenched as the reason finally came to him. After returning to Vulcan, he had never expressed interest in Riverside.

Of course, the memories stayed with him. He and his friends had, after all, saved the Earth-Vulcan alliance from destruction.

But gradually, as he grew, his thoughts had turned back to his education, his future.

He had gotten to the point that he hardly ever thought of Riverside. He had almost forgotten what it was like to, just for fun, scale a tree, or dive into a leaf pile, or chase a friend.

Would he even recognize his friends when he saw them? The last time Spock had seen Jim and Nyota, they had been ten years old. Children. Now like Spock, they were adults. Older, wiser…different.

Spock was snapped out of his thoughts by Winona patting his arm and saying, "Do you see Jim? He must be in the back. I see some of his friends up front—there's Gum and Hikaru…"

Spock blinked. He remembered Hikaru, but no one by the name of Gum. He followed Winona's gaze to two young men standing side-by-side in the second row, both grinning broadly. One had red-brown hair, cut short like a soldier's—at least, from what Spock could see of it. The other had dark hair slightly longer than his friend's. They were close in height.

He recognized Hikaru as the dark-haired man. "Gum" must be the red-haired one, but Spock had never known anyone named…

Then he remembered. Scotty—skinny, red-haired, who spoke with a thick Scottish brogue and was nearly inseparable from Hikaru—was in reality named Montgomery Scott. _Gum must be what Winona calls him_ , Spock thought, glad no one he knew had given him a nickname.

The last of the students finished filing into the bleachers, and "Pomp and Circumstance" finished.

Spock watched as a tall, balding man stepped up to the microphone and said, smiling, "Welcome, everyone, to Riverside High School Graduation, 2117!"

* * *

The ceremony lasted about an hour.

Spock watched and waited as the balding man introduced himself to the audience as Principal Neely, and gave a short but somewhat dull speech on the accomplishments of the graduating class, complimenting them on their hard work and effort throughout their years of high school. He announced the next speaker amidst polite applause, one of the graduating students, a gangly, dark-haired boy whom Spock did not know.

Spock listened politely to the speech but kept his eyes busy scanning the bleachers for Jim and Nyota. In the sea of red, he couldn't identify either one.

Two more graduates gave speeches before Principal Neely stepped up again and began to call forward individual students to receive their diplomas.

A few minutes passed during which Spock clapped with the audience for each student, noting the loud cheers some received and wondering why they were not lined up in exact alphabetical order. Scotty and Hikaru, both "S" last names, were in the second row while Jim was nowhere to be seen.

He wondered if Jim was there, and he simply didn't recognize him, but Winona hadn't said anything yet…

Spock was then snapped out of his thoughts as he caught sight of the figure at the top right hand corner of the bleachers: a young man with short blond hair, and a grin on his face.

_Jim?_

His eyes flitted to Principal Neely, who took the next diploma and said, with a strained smile, "James T. Kirk!"

Winona and the majority of the crowd stood and cheered out the loudest roar that any of the graduates had received so far, and Spock had to peer around the very tall man in front of him to see Jim cross the stage, accept his diploma from Principal Neely, and shake the man's hand before turning and grinning at the crowd, then heading back up the stairs.

As the next name was called, Winona and Spock sat down.

Winona turned to Spock, grinning. "That's my Jim."

* * *

"Nyota Uhura!"

Nyota smiled and crossed the stage, listening to the applause and cheers of her friends and family. She could see Gaila, Janice, Christine and Pavel standing at the front corner of the arrangement of chairs, her family in the center with noisemakers.

_Finally_. She was walking the stage.

As she stepped forward toward Neely, she glanced over the crowd again, catching sight of—she smirked—Jim's mother in the crowd, whom she'd met through Len's grandparents, and sitting next to her…

Nyota blinked.

A pale young man with dark hair in a bad bowl haircut, wearing a Starfleet cadet's uniform…

"Congratulations," said Principal Neely, catching Nyota off-guard.

She accepted her diploma and shook his hand, smiling. "Thank you."

And she continued on, back up the bleachers, glancing over her shoulder at the young man sitting beside Jim's mother.

A flash of memory ran through Nyota's mind—sitting at the breakfast bar in her kitchen, sipping iced tea, smiling at the boy sitting next to her as he promised he wouldn't tell any of her secrets.

She got back to her seat, just as Neely shook hands with the last student (Sarah Ziala), and announced to the audience, "Ladies and Gentlemen, Riverside High School's Graduating Class of 2117!"

The graduates and the audience let out a cheer, and Nyota tossed her mortarboard up into the wave of hats, not bothering to retrieve it as the band started up "Pomp and Circumstance" again. She stood with the rest of the graduates and started into the crowd.

Nyota stepped onto the grass and immediately started in the direction of the young man in the Starfleet uniform, ignoring the calls of her friends and family, her eyes wide and her heart pounding.

_Is it possible?_ She stopped, turning in a circle, her mind racing.

Could it be? Had those ears been pointed? Was it…

"Nyota?"

Nyota's heart froze. She turned, slowly, to the source of the voice. Her mouth gaped open.

"…Spock?"

* * *

Jim hopped off the bleachers, his diploma clutched in one hand, his mortarboard in the other, as Bones, Hikaru, Scotty and Pavel approached him from the chairs.

Jim grinned at them—mostly at Bones, who rolled his eyes, giving Jim a wry smile.

"Like I said," he snorted, "your ego on crack."

"Hey, it was worth it just to see Neely's face," Jim shrugged. "Congrats, guys!" He turned to Scotty and Hikaru, who both grinned.

"Aye, _finally,"_ Scotty answered, "Glad tae be rid of Dixon."

"Yeah, Mr. Dixon," Hikaru smiled, shaking his head and looking up at the sky, "…nice guy, just didn't know how to handle a class…"

"Ye mean he'd be a nice guy if he knew how to handle a class. Pavel's lucky he never had 'im," Scotty argued.

"Whatever," Hikaru shrugged. "The point is—WE'RE GOING TO STAAAAARFLEEEEET!" He cupped his hands around his mouth and hollered this last bit, causing everyone in the vicinity to look over.

Jim, Bones and Scotty laughed, but Pavel sent Hikaru a stern look.

"Do not be too excited," he said, crossing his arms. "Eet eesn't all fun and games."

"Aw, c'mon, Pav, how bad could it be? _We'll_ be there," Jim grinned, giving Pavel a slap on the shoulder.

Pavel huffed. "Fine. But when you need help with, don't ask me for help!"

Laughter sounded around the group.

"Jim!" called a female—and very familiar—voice.

Jim turned to see, striding toward him through the crowd, none other than—

"Gaila?"

Gaila, grinning as broadly as ever, waved, running forward and tackling Jim in a bear hug.

"Gaila, it's been forever!" Jim laughed. "Where've you been?"

"Oh, here and there," Gaila said vaguely, shrugging. "Actually, Jan, Chris and I are looking for Ny. Seen her?"

Jim shook his head. "No, not since they called her name—"

" _Hi,_ Leonard!"

Jim was cut off midsentence by Christine, bouncing over toward Bones from out of nowhere, grinning and hugging him.

Bones, looking extremely uncomfortable, stiffly returned the hug, and muttered a strained, " _Hi,_ Christine…"

Jim and Gaila exchanged grins as Janice stepped out of the crowd as well, smiling and greeting Scotty and Hikaru.

"You gonna tell me how you managed to finish senior year without Neely strangling you?" Gaila asked, putting her hands on her hips.

Jim grinned. "'Course I am."

Gaila rolled her eyes. "Good," she said, grabbing Jim's hand and starting to drag him through the crowd. "While you're at it, help me find Nyota."

* * *

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Riverside High School's Graduating Class of 2117!"

The audience cheered. Mortarboards flew. People began to stand.

Spock hardly noticed any of it.

All he could think about was sugar swirling in a glass of iced tea, faint Morse Code behind a roar of international chatter, and Nyota.

Crossing the stage.

Receiving her diploma.

Looking straight at him.

He blinked as Winona walked past him, smiling. "I'm going to go find Jim. Come find us!"

Spock's eyes darted back to the bleachers, where he saw a snatch of Nyota's long, dark hair disappearing into the crowd.

Immediately, heart pounding, he began to walk, darting around groups and between families, his eyes in constant motion, searching for another snatch of dark hair, for a pretty, coffee-skinned face, for…

…there she was. Her back to him. Ten feet away. Looking around for something.

Spock's mouth went dry. He took a hesitant step forward and asked, softly: "…Nyota?"

Nyota went still. Slowly, she turned to face him, dark eyes wide, mouth agape. "…Spock?"

Spock nodded.

For a moment, both of them were silent.

Then Nyota asked, hesitantly, glancing at Spock's uniform: "Starfleet?"

Spock nodded again. "Will you be…?"

Nyota nodded. "Xenolinguistics."

Silence fell again. Spock opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again, closed it again. Lost for words.

Then Nyota stepped forward and hugged him.

Spock broke apart, hesitated for a moment, then hugged her back.

They broke apart. Nyota wore a quivering smile.

Spock opened his mouth to speak again, but was interrupted as a female voice sounded from nearby: "Ny! _Ny!_ Nyota!"

And out of the crowd stepped Gaila, grinning and followed by Len, Christine, Scotty, Janice, Hikaru, Pavel, and Jim.

* * *

"C'mon!" Jim called over his shoulder to the others as Gaila started to pull him through the crowd. He turned back to Gaila. "Seriously, Gaila, where were you this last year? You went completely off the radar."

"I got a job doing intergalactic tour guides," Gaila answered. "Adventurey stuff. Hiking, white-water rafting, solar surfing…"

"Playing 'Hunted'?" Jim supplied.

Gaila grinned. "Once or twice."

"Well I'm relieved—I thought you'd been taken hostage by the Romulans or something," Jim snorted.

Gaila glanced out into the crowd. "Yeah…" she said, distantly, then, "I think I see her. Ny!"

She let go of Jim's hadn and started around a large group of graduates.

Jim smiled. Gaila hadn't changed at all. He followed her around the group of graduates to see Nyota standing there, and standing before her…

Jim halted.

Standing before her was a tall, lean, young man with dark hair in a bowl haircut, slanted eyebrows, and pointed ears, wearing a red Starfleet cadet's uniform.

Spock.

Outside the shock that had overtaken his mind, Jim became aware that the others were there too, silent and staring wide-eyed at the newcomer.

He glanced slowly left, then right, and found that they had formed a circle.

Everyone exchanged glances, and there was silence for a moment more.

Then:

"Spock, you're back!"

"You did ye find us?"

"Remember the Romulans and the dirt?"

"And that ghost story Jim told on Halloween!"

"Are you in Starfleet?"

"I can't believe he's back!"

Amid the chatter, Jim stepped forward, a smile spreading across his face. "Spock," he said.

Spock met Jim's eyes. "Jim."

A beat passed.

Spock inclined his head. "I have been, and always shall be your friend," he said.

Jim's smile turned into a grin. "I knew you'd be back."

He glanced at Spock's uniform. "Starfleet?" he asked.

"Indeed," Spock answered. "Will you be…?"

Jim's grin widened. "Yes."

FIN


End file.
